Precludes a local criminal court from issuing a warrant of arrest based on any simplified information when the defendant has not been arraigned and has not come under the control of the court with respect to the charges in the simplified information; provides that this formerly applied only to simplified traffic information.
Summary
This bill amends the Criminal Procedure Law to limit when a local criminal court may issue an arrest warrant after a criminal action has begun by the filing of a simplified information. Under current law, the warrant restriction applies only to simplified traffic informations; this bill expands that rule to all simplified informations. As a result, if a defendant has not yet been arraigned and has not otherwise come under the court’s control, the court could not issue a warrant solely on the basis of a simplified information.
The bill also preserves the existing rule that if the accusatory instrument is not sufficient on its face, and the court determines that it would be impossible to draw and file a sufficient accusatory instrument based on the available facts or evidence, the court must dismiss the instrument. The bill takes effect November 1 following enactment.
Impact
The bill would amend section 120.20 of the Criminal Procedure Law by replacing the current reference to a "simplified traffic information" with "simplified information," thereby extending the arrest-warrant limitation to a broader category of cases in local criminal courts and youth parts of superior court. It would affect prosecutors, courts, and defendants in matters initiated by simplified informations by restricting pre-arraignment arrest warrants and reinforcing dismissal requirements for facially insufficient accusatory instruments.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no direct evidence of support or opposition from legislative debate or recorded votes. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be a procedural reform aimed at narrowing warrant authority and protecting defendants from arrest before arraignment in simplified-information cases.
Contention
The main policy issue is whether courts should be allowed to issue arrest warrants before arraignment in cases commenced by simplified informations. Supporters would likely view the bill as a due-process safeguard that prevents premature arrest and limits coercive enforcement in cases where the defendant has not yet been brought under court control. Opponents, if any, would likely argue that expanding the restriction could reduce law-enforcement flexibility and make it harder to secure defendants’ appearance in court. No specific stakeholder positions were included in the provided materials.
Precludes a local criminal court from issuing a warrant of arrest based on any simplified information when the defendant has not been arraigned and has not come under the control of the court with respect to the charges in the simplified information; provides that this formerly applied only to simplified traffic information.
Grants certain park rangers and building security of Erie county peace officer status to issue appearance tickets, simplified traffic informations, simplified parks informations and simplified environmental conservation informations; provides that such shall not be deemed to authorize such officer to carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate license has been issued therefor.
Grants certain park rangers and building security of Erie county peace officer status to issue appearance tickets, simplified traffic informations, simplified parks informations and simplified environmental conservation informations; provides that such shall not be deemed to authorize such officer to carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate license has been issued therefor.
To Amend The Healthcare Contracting Simplification Act; To Define "downcode" Under The Healthcare Contracting Simplification Act; And To Require Notification By Contracting Entities Of Downcoding.